Closing in
by anybody-out-there
Summary: In the aftermath of the happenings in BUaBS, Dean and Sam are on the hunt of the demon, they think. But they are struggling to cope and they have to stay low, in fear of other hunters. And they are still wanted by the FBI. Hurt!Sam, Hurt!Protective!Dean
1. Chapter 1

**Closing in_  
_**

**_A/N: _**_Dean and Sam are still struggeling after what happend in 'Born Under A Bad Sign'. I haven't really desided the timeline for this story yet, but it's sometime after this episode. So while this chapter is pretty spoiler free, there will be some season 2 references in later chapters. (well ok, there is one or two at the end of this one too;)_

_Our boys are demon hunting again. But they have to stay low, there might be other hunters out there who want them dead. And they are still wanted by the FBI._

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Winchesters or anything Supernatural.  
_

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**Chapter one**

"So what is it?"

"What?" Sam's head snapped up in confusion.

Dean had to hold back a little laugh, because in that moment, Sam looked like the little six-years-old he once was. He sometimes wished they could go back there. More and more lately, that was easier times. When he could tell Sam a story or hold his hand, and everything was okay again. And the times when big brother was not enough, which only happened in rear occasions, dad would be there and scare away the monsters. Yeah, Dean really wished dad was there. But he wasn't so Dean was left with the responsibility.

"Dean!" Sam, almost yield, "what?"

It was Dean's turn to snap out of his little 'black out'. He cleared his throat, a little embarrassed; "This ghost of yours, what's the deal?"

"It's not my ghost". Sam answered with at sigh.

"Well, you're the college boy, Sam. You're the one with the visions. The freak with the shining," Dean proclaimed.

"Yeah? And where does that leave you?" Sam glanced at his brother with a faint smile.

Dean grinned back. "I'm just the awesome big brother."

With an even heavier sigh Sam looked back at the screen of the laptop, mumbling something Dean didn't get.

"What was that?" Dean cocked an eyebrow at his brother. From where he was sitting at the end of the bed he could only see Sam's brown mop of hair over the laptop, wobbling up and down while he continued to grumble something not understandable.

"You gotta speak up there, Sammy. Can't hear you trough that big mop of hair. You really need a haircut."

Sam looked up from the screen again an met Dean's eyes, not at all amused by Dean's teasing. "You know what? That one's getting old, you really should try to come up with something new."

"Got your attention, didn't I?" He raised from the bed and went over to the little table where Sam sat bent over the computer.

Sam gave Dean an exasperated look, "You wanna hear this or not?" He drew his hands trough his hair and eyed Dean as he sat down opposite of him. He turned the laptop over so Dean could see.

Dean scanned the article and when he came to the picture of one of the victims he wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Ew, that's just gross. They all looked like that?"

"Yeah," Sam sighed. "They were all torn to pieces, police think it's animal attacks." He rubbed his weary eyes, he didn't know how to handle this, but this was not the way to do it. He knew he sooner or later had to tell Dean. His brother wasn't stupid, he only hoped he could wait till after they got there.

"Animal attacks huh? Like we haven't heard that one before." Dean chuckled, "I can't believe how naive people can be sometimes."

"Dean, they don't know what's out there. They don't know what we do. It's only human you know, to try to find natural causes as explanations for even the most weird phenomena. People are willing to go a long way to keep their world safe and controllable."

Dean looked at him incredulously. "Five killings like this one the last two weeks, all down town. And they're blaming it on wild animals? That's pulling it a bit far don't ya think?" He raised from the chair and started pacing. "There's any pattern?"

Sam drew hand finger through his hair again. "Beside from what you said, them all happening down town, there's non. They all died in different places, some in their apartments, others at their office, a dark alley... Different hour on the day, no witnesses, no evidence what so ever. There doesn't even seem to be at connection between the victims."

"Okay, so the only similarities is the all-over-the-place-bodies. All body parts intact?" Dean asked while continuing his stride from the table to the bed and back again.

Sam hesitated, looked down at the screen before he turned his face away and answered, barely above a whisper, "Yes." Sam looked up at his brother again when he noticed he had stopped in his pace. "What?"

His brother just stood there, staring at him. He had his eyebrows raised and to Sam he looked like he tried to read his mind. He always felt like squirming under the eyes of his big brother. Turning his face again he looked out the window. It was still early afternoon and the sun made beautiful patterns in the wet leaves of the huge oak right outside their motel room. The sight had him remember one time when he was five and they had stayed at Jim's house. Jim had this huge garden and in an old tree in the corner was this swing. The memories came flowing back at him. When Sam had discovered the swing he wouldn't do anything until Dean came out with him and gave him a push at that swing. If he closed his eyes he could still feel the warm breeze against his skin. He never understood at the time why his brother hadn't laughed with him or why he wouldn't try the swing for himself. Now he knew, that had been right after the strigha incident. While he had enjoyed the three days spent with Jim, his brother had suffered from a guilt trip no nine year olds should ever be aware of. And he had done it alone as usual, he wondered if Jim knew. Blinking he turned his focus back at present time. He could still feel the heat of Dean's stare at the back of his neck.

"Dude, quit staring!" When he didn't get a reaction, he unwillingly turned an raised his gaze and locked eyes with his brother. "What?!"

"Nothing," Dean waved a hand in the air. "I'm just wondering when you're gonna tell me what you're hiding."

"I'm not hiding anything, Dean," Sam tried, but he could hear how weak his voice sounded.

Dean's eyebrows shot up again. "See, that's where you're wrong." He paused, but before Sam could throw in a word, Dean talked again. "Leave the lies to us professionals, Sam. I can read you like an open book."

He went over and sat across of Sam, rested his arms on the table. "What aren't you telling me, Sammy?"

Pulling in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Sam knew he wouldn't be able to get out of this without giving something. "Their hearts were missing."

Dean's head snapped up, that was so not what he had expected. "Their hearts?" He pulled his face together in a thoughtful mask. "Why would the ghost take their hearts? We're dealing with a heartbroken ghost here?" He chuckled, finding his own joke quite amusing. One look at his little brother let him know, Sammy didn't. His baby brother sat resigned in his chair with his head in hands. Dean got the feeling that there were more to this. Sam had acted a little weird all day. He was about to speak up again when Sam suddenly raised and went over to the beds.

Dean studied Sam while he started throwing his belongings in his duffel bag . Yeah, something was definitely wrong with his little brother.

"What ya doing?" Sam froze at the sound of Dean's sharp voice. Turning around slowly he raised his hands in a 'what do you think' gesture. "I'm packing, we should get going."

"Okay, that's it." Dean went over and pushed Sam hard down on the bed. Sam hadn't really expected Dean's outburst and his duffel flew out of his hands and all his clothes fell on the floor. "Hey, watch it!" He tried to get up, but Dean pushed him back down.

"No, not until you tell me what's going on here."

Sam looked at his brother exasperated and made a second attempt at getting up. This time though, Dean pushed him down so hard he nearly fell off the bed. "What's the matter with you? Quit pushing me around."

Dean stood over him, holding him firmly in place. "I stop pushing when you start talking. You're choice Sam. And don't go for the lie again, dude , I know you. You've been acting out of character all day, you're grumpy," Dean paused for a minute, "well okay your always grumpy, but..." Sam rolled his eyes at Dean. "...you're spacing out on me, and now you're holding back information on our hunt?! Should think that after 23 years of hunting you know the danger in doing that." When Dean felt Sam wouldn't try to get away from him again he let go of Sam's shoulder. Feeling Sam maybe would be easier to get to talk if he gave him some space, Dean sat down on one of the chairs by the table.

"What was that about anyway? Why wouldn't you tell me our little ghostie had a thing for hearts?" Deans voice was softer now. He looked at his baby brother with his best 'I'm your big brother and I'm only worried about you' face. When Sam didn't answered, Dean sighed. "Okay, I'm not going anywhere until you're telling me what this is all about. I've got all day."

Sam knew he'd lost and pulled himself to a sitting position at the end of the bed. "Listen." He hesitated for a moment. "I don't think it's a ghost."

"Why not? Because of the hearts? You told me Ellen had this hunt for us. An easy salt and burn, thought she gave it to us because she knew we could use an easy gig right now. Isn't that what you told me?" Dean shook his head. "Look man, I know it doesn't look like our usually little Casper, but Ellen, annoying as she might be, knows her stuff."

"It... it doesn't make sense," Sam stammered.

"We're talking about ghosts, Sam. It's not supposed to make sense."

"Okay." Sam got up, if Dean would let him of the hook this easy, he wasn't gonna complain. He was about to pick up his duffel again when he could hear Dean clear his throat, okay, so maybe he was to soon in his assumptions.

"That's not good enough Sam. Tell me the truth, why did you ditch the Casper theory all of a sudden?"

Sam sat down on the bed again, heavy, he knew he couldn't hold it back anymore. He only wished Dean wouldn't freak out, but he knew his brother. He would definitely freak out. "Remember Chicago?"

Dean froze, yeah he remembered Chicago. The feeling of meeting up with their dad again, to know he was safe, only to have to go separate ways... He had been so happy about seeing him again. It felt so good having him there, while he embraced him he had felt released from a huge burden. Their dad was back, everything would be okay. In that moment he had felt nothing but peace. He cleared his throat. "Yeah. Yeah I remember."

Sam studied his brother, "well don't you think there's a resemblance?" He could see his brother's eyes widen.

"You think it's the daeva?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't know. But I think the demon's involved." He glanced over at his brother, Dean still looked calm, but Sam knew better, any moment now...

And there: "What?" Dean burst out. He raised from the chair in such a rage that the chair flew back and slammed in the wall before landing on the floor. Sam looked in awe at the chair, still in one piece, that had to count as a miracle. "That bitch! I'm gonna kill her." Dean reach for his cell phone and started dialing.

"Dude, who are you calling?"

Dean stopped for a second and looked at his little brother, he felt so much rage and hatred for that woman right now, she should thank her lucky star that she was no where near him. He could've pulled her head off her shoulders. "Ellen," he stated.

"Why would you do that?" Sam looked shocked and confused. Sometimes he just didn't get his brother's logic.

Dean hadn't heard Sam's question, just continued his angry ramble. "She has no right, she knows what happened last time. I'm gonna kill her, she's in no position to suggest... she can't do this..."

"Dean!" Dean didn't hear him.

"DEAN!" Sam jumped on Dean an ripped his phone away. The phone landed hard on the floor and slid under the bed. Dean shot Sam a look, that if looks could kill Sam would have fell dead to the floor right there. "What the hell! Give me my phone back."

He felt his older brother's rage and backed off a little. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. "Ellen didn't call me." He said with a deep sigh. When his brother didn't make a sign to say anything, he continued. "I called her." There, he said it. Now he only had to deal with his brother's reaction. After what he'd just seen he didn't look forward to it.

Dean blinked at his brother. "Why? W... why would you do that?" He dumped down on the bed with a thud. "Why would you do that Sammy"

Sam dumped down beside him. "I wanted to talk to Ash, thought maybe he had some information on this case." They sat in silence for a while, shoulder to shoulder, breathing hard from all the yelling. Dean was the first to talk. "You had a vision, hadn't you?" He tried to make eye contact with his younger brother, but Sam refused to look at him. Only shook his head. "No I hadn't."

"The nightmares!" It was a statement not a question. "Dammit, Sammy!" Dean slammed his fist in the bed and got up. "You told me they were nothing, just some..." he trailed off. He turned worried eyes at his brother again, but Sam wouldn't meet his gaze. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I..." his brother started. His voice barely whisper. "I just wanted to be sure, before I... I didn't want to worry you, if it was nothing..."

"Huh," Dean interrupted, "yeah, well, look how that ended." He started pacing again. "When were you gonna tell me about this? I mean you talked to Ash, and you still didn't think it was time to tell me?"

Sam had got up now, and was leaning against the window. He didn't know what to say to that. He hadn't intended to tell until they were there, he knew it was a bad idea, but...

Dean started to get angry again. "You weren't ever gonna tell me, were you? God! Sammy." Hi kicked the bed, then again and again. After a while he tried to slow his breathing and calm down. He faced his brother again.

"God Sammy. How am I gonna protect you if you don't tell me about things like this."

"Dean, it's not your job to..."

"To what, Sam? To keep you safe? Don't pull that crap on me Sam, not now, not after... Shit! I can't believe you were gonna drag me blind into this demon hunt. For a Standford kid you're pretty dumb. You want me dead or something?"

"No!" Sam yelled shocked. "Dean no! I got scared okay?" Sam was panicked now. He failed, he should have told Dean, but he knew this would happen and he couldn't afford it. He needed to check this out.

Dean was in full blowout now. He kicked the table the beds, slammed his fists in the wall. "The only reason I agreed with this hunt was because it was quick and easy. Thought we needed that, something to keep our mind off of... " he swallowed. "We're not ready for this, we're not. We..." his voice cracked. "Okay," he drew in a shaky breath. "That's settled then, we're not going. We..."

"What?!" It was Sam's turn to yell. He could not believe what he was hearing. "You're kidding right? We cant not go?"

Dean turned around, face in a tight mask. "Oh, I'm deadly serious. We're not going."

Sam glared at his brother, shocked. Then his face softened. "Listen, Dean." He sighed for what must have been the hundred time that day. "I know you're only trying to protect me, to keep me safe. I know... but."

"Do you?" Dean's stare was hard on Sam, "cause you're not acting like you do." He shifted, rubbed a hand over his chin. "Besides that's not the only reason for not going. It's to close to Steve Wendell's home, we cant risk it. If it was an easy salt and burn, sure. But this. Sam, we don't know how long it's gonna last. What if some of Steve's hunter buddies are still hanging around? We cant go."

Sam was close to panic now. Dean was really serious about this. But he couldn't let it go. He had seen one of the victims die, and... he didn't doubt there would me more. How could Dean not get this. "Dean, please," he pleaded. "I know it's risky, but you cant expect me to not follow up on this. I need to do this, Dean." He knew he sounded pathetic, but he couldn't help it.

For a long moment Dean didn't say anything, only held Sam's with his gaze. Then he closed his eyes and sighed before he opened them and locked eyes with Sam. For a second Sam thought Dean was gonna agree. And he felt relieved, then he heard Dean speak and it crashed down. "No," Dean said and turned around.

Dean swallowed hard. He knew he was harsh on Sam, knew how those nightmares haunted Sam. But he couldn't risk it. His first responsibility was to keep Sam safe. Always had been always would be. His inner dialog was interrupted by a grunt from Sam.

"Aargh!"

Dean turned around to find Sammy on his knees clutching his head in his hands.

**tbc**

_Okay, hope you enjoyed the first chapter__. If you did, I would like to know:) I'm open for suggestions to improvements too. _

_ Help 1: My knowledge in American geography is pretty bad, but I'll do my best. But need some help. Anybody who could tell me where Steve Wendell lived?_

_Help 2: I don't have a beta, and as you can see by my spelling and grammar, I could probably use one. hint hint.  
_


	2. Chapter 2

**Closing in**

**__****A/N:**_ Okay, so here we go again. Boy, did I regret putting the plot of this story close to the area of the events in BUABS. I had a hard time figure out which Twin Lakes the boys were in, there are dozens of them. After single them down to being either Twin Lakes, CO or Twin Lakes, WI (which could both be pretty stupid choices for all I know), I decided to go for the Twin Lakes, Colorado. I have no idea if that was a good choice, but that was my best guess, and I did find a route 71 going north from a town a few hours from T W (Limon). Besides I like Colorado (never been there, but I think I would have loved it there:) If that's a totaly wrong choice (yeah I know that means that Dean, and of course demon/Sam/Meg had to drive for almost 17 hours to get from Colorado to Duluth, MN, but they spend so much time in that car anyway, so I figured why not. And they did arrive after closing time of Jo's bar), I hope you forgive me, and are able to forget about that, and just pretend it could have happend in CO. And there wont be to many references to geographical places in the future._

_I still don't have any beta reader, so you'll probably find some bad spelling and grammar, sorry._**_  
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**__****Summary:**_ After BUABS. __Our boys are demon hunting again. But they have to stay low, there might be other hunters out there who want them dead. And they are still wanted by the FBI_

**__****Disclaimer:**_ I don't own the Winchesters or anything Supernatural._

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**__****...end of chapter one:**

_His first responsibility was to keep Sam safe. Always had been always would be. His inner dialog was interrupted by a grunt from Sam._

"_Aargh!"_

_Dean turned around to find Sammy on his knees clutching his head in his hands._

******Chapter two**

Dean's eyes widened. "Sammy?" He was beside his brother in a rush. Sam did not respond, only grunted and clutched his head tighter. "Sam?" Dean gently touched Sam's shoulder and tried to shake him back to awareness.

Kid's face was pale and sweaty and Dean knew his baby brother was having a vision. There was nothing he could do but wait it out, gently rubbing his back and murmuring softly in his brother's ear. That's what he hated about these visions, that he was not able to do anything to protect Sammy from them. He had used all his life to refining his big brother skills, and he used to think he did a pretty good job at it, then this shit started happen and made him feel worthless. Dean couldn't stand to witness Sam suffer.

He's brother's breath was harsh and unsteady, and Dean felt Sam shiver under his hand. He tried to talk Sam through it, murmuring, helping him steady his breathing. He probably did it as much for him self as for his younger brother. _Well at least I'm here with him,'_ he thought. It was Dean's worst fear, that Sam would have a vision without anybody there, without him there to protect against the outside world. Worst case scenario, Sam having a vision during a hunt, making him totally defenseless.

Dean could feel Sam relax a little, his breathing becoming more even. Dean studied his brother, and watched as Sam slowly was coming back. "Sam," he spoke softly, like he was talking to a wounded animal. "Are you with me, little brother?"

Sam didn't answer, and Dean got slightly more worried, then Sam nodded while releasing a shaky breath, as did Dean. He gave Sam a minute to collect himself, knowing all to well how sick these damn visions was leaving his brother. They sat there in silence for a short moment, until Dean decided it was time for action.

"Think I'm a little to old for playing around on the floor. Ready to get up, kiddo?" He asked lightly. "Think the bed or a chair's more comfy."

Sam didn't answer, but let his brother help him up and leaned on him until he could balance himself and control the nausea. But he wouldn't sit down on the bed, though. He went straight over to finishing up packing.

"We need to go now. We have to hurry."

"No Sam. We need to talk about this. Like what did you see? And where do we need to go." Dean stated firmly but gently. He had a suspicion, though, on where they needed to head out to and he didn't like it. "And you need to sit down for a minute and take some deep breaths."

Sam started to protest, but one glance from Dean made him stop. He sat down heavily on the bed, and let out a sigh. "I don't know exactly what I saw, Dean, but we really need to go, five people's dead already." Sam's voice was raspy, and he cleared his throat. "Please. We need to leave, we need to hurry. If we don't go to Denver, she's gonna die too."

Taking place opposite of Sam on the other bed, Dean met his brother's eyes. "Who, Sam? Who's gonna die?"

"I don't know, Dean, but please..." was Sam's desperate reply.

Dean was close to desperation himself. This was bad, really bad. Going back anywhere near there for anything more than just a day, was risky, and this vision confirmed Sam's suspicion that there was a link to the demon, or one of the other special children which basically was the same thing. Considering their last encounter with that demon bitch, Meg, was only six weeks ago, he didn't think they were ready for this. He also knew not going, not to try to save this girl would be eating Sam up inside. And Dean wasn't happy about it either, knowing they were condemning someone to the certain death by not going. He glanced over at Sam's desperate posture while he weighted the situation. In the end the big brother in him won out, always would.

He took a deep breath. "Sam. I'm so sorry. You know I am, but I don't th..."

His words faded out as he saw Sam's face turn in to a frown and his tall frame raise from the bed in furry.

Dean watch in horror as Sam went over to his leather coat and pulled out the keys to the Impala. "What exactly are you think you're doing?"

With eyes that shine from determination, Sam gave Dean a piercing look. "I'm leaving Dean. I can't let that girl die. So I'm leaving now, with or without you."

In a second Dean was by his brother's side stretching his arms for the key. As the younger brother was much taler, he simply held the key out of arms reach for his desperate brother. But the older one was all fired up, and with a weakened Sam, Dean easily pinned him to the door and took the precious object from him.

"You think I would actually let you drive my car all the way to Denver alone?" The key was stored away in Dean's back pocket. No way was he letting go of them. _'What the hell was Sam thinking?!'_ "What the hell were you thinking, Sam?. What if something happened?"

Sam sighed and gave his big brother a sad face. "I'm sorry Dean, but I have to. And I wont let anything happen to you car."

_'Huh!' _Dean thought. _'Is__that what he's thinking?'_ Dean shot the young man in front of him an incredulous look. At the thought that his younger brother could really believe the Impala was the issue here, he felt the anger rise up in side. Was the kid really that stupid? "Screw my car, alright. It's you I'm worried about."

If it hadn't been for the seriousness in the situation, Sam would've made Dean say that again, it's not every day you heard Dean Winchester talk about his car like that, his baby.

Dean looked at Sam with and pleading look that matched Sam's own only moments ago. "Sam, to even go there for what _I__though_ was a ghost hunt," Dean said with a hint of bitterness, "...was a stupid idea. I should never agreed to it, much less this." The last was said with a voice set no longer with anger, but with a gentle pleading, uncharacteristically coming from the older brother.

Sam looked up and locked gaze with Dean, eyes begged him for understanding. "Dean I need to do this. I need to save her. Please, I cant..." There was a tremble in his voice, and Dean could see how his brother swallowed hard to get his feelings under control. "And I need _you_ Dean."

_'Damn.'_ Dean had to turn around. How did Sam do that, always pushing the right buttons, saying the right words, stuff that made the tough Winchester mask crumble. He wondered if Sammy knew the effect his puppy-dog eyes and pleading words had on his big brother. Yeah, who was he kidding, course he knew, he'd bet on his precious girl in black that his pain in the ass kid brother knew exactly what he was doing.

He closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath. Despite the growing lump in his stomach, screaming for him to get them both in the car and drive in the opposite direction, away from the vision, the demon...everything, he knew Sam was right. They couldn't overlook this.

"Okay, you pack up the room, I'll go check us out. We're leaving in ten." He was outside the door, before Sam got a chance to respond, and before he could change his mind about this stupid hunt.

sssNsNsss

The rhythm of the windshield wipers was relaxing. Maybe a little to relaxing, Dean admitted as he opened the window to let some fresh air tickle his face. It had started raining an hour ago, and it was now raining buckets. A few drops of water found it's way trough the open window and hit the the tired driver's face. Dean welcomed the wetness on his cheek, he rubbed his neck. God he was gonna be stiff tomorrow. _'I need a pit stop,'_ he thought when he saw the sign for the gas station a little up the road.

The black car came to a stop by the pump closest to the door. Dean rested his head against the seat, sighing heavily, he needed caffeine, and his baby needed fuel. He allowed himself to close his eyes for a minute, they had been on the road for ten and a half hour now, Dean doing most of the driving. Sam had offered to drive after seven hours, when Dean hadn't been able to stifle a yawn. And he had felt tired and in need for some rest, so he had changed places with his little brother, besides he though it could be a good opportunity to give Bobby a call.

Sam had looked at him with a weird expression when he said he was gonna call Bobby. "Why are you calling him? Haven't we bothered that man enough lately?" He had added with a dry laugh.

"Well, maybe, but I figured when we're gonna face the triple-threat, we could need some help." Dean stated. "Thought maybe Bobby could have an ear and an eye open for us."

"Triple-threat?" Sam's expression went from weird to confused.

"Yeah, you know, the triple-threat! the Demon, the Feds and the Hunters." A grin plastered at the older brothers face. Sam had only rolled his eyes at that, and let him call Bobby.

Bobby had promised to keep an eye on things, he also reassured Dean that non of Steve's buddies, as he knew of, was still hanging around in the area, but he warned the boys to be careful. And to call him if they met problems of any kind. His younger brother had relaxed by the news, and Dean felt relieved himself. It was good to know they had backup if needed, and Bobby was always reliable. He was one of the few people in the brothers life, they could still count on, and Dean was in deep gratitude to the man. After their father's death, Dean had almost buckled under the burden of his responsibility for Sammy and the promise he gave his dad right before he died. But Bobby had proven more than once to be a good friend.

With that in mind, and Sam behind the wheel, Dean had made himself comfortable and ready for some rest. He hadn't more than closed his eyes, before the car had swerved and his head was almost thrown of his neck, surely he was gonna get whiplash. Eyes wide open he saw in horror that Sam was slumped against the staring wheel, but fortunately they hadn't been on the highway when Sam had been attacked by a second vision, so Dean had miraculously been able to get control of the car and had pulled over.

That was it, no way Sam was gonna drive his car ever again. So after only thirty minutes in the passenger seat, Dean was back behind the wheel. He hadn't got Sammy to talk about his visions or his earlier nightmares, when asked, Sam had only told him, no begged him, to go faster. Little while later his little brother was asleep, still clutching his head.

Dean opened his eyes again, glancing at the still sleeping body beside him, wondering if he should wake him up and make him come inside with him, he wasn't comfortable at leaving the speeping brother alone in the car. But a very vivid memory from last time they visited a gas station in the area had him decide to let him be. Who knew where else Sam had been and done stupid things like throwing bottles after people. _'Not Sam,'_ Dean reminded himself. _'That demon bitch, not his brother.' _ With a sigh, he opened the door and went out in the silent night air.

Five minutes later, when Dean returned with some much needed coffee and some snack, he found Sam awake in the car.

"Hey there, sleeping beauty." Dean entered the car and watched as his brother tried to shake off the last of his sleep. "You okay there, kiddo?" With a trained look, he studied his brother for signs of any kind that said otherwise.

"I'm fine," Sam nodded. "Where are we?" He looked out in the dark, squinting his eyes while trying to find something that could tell him where they were. It didn't look like he found anything.

"A few hours northwest of Denver. Somewhere near Wamsutter, if that tells you anything." Dean said with a half smile, took a sip from his coffee, and gave Sammy the bag of snacks before he pulled out of the station. Now that Sam was awake, Dean turned up the volume of the music.

"You wanna fill me in on the visions, now?" Dean asked, voice light and gentle, after a few minutes with only the music blaring through the speakers. Sam sighed frustrated, "Not much to fill you in on." Face turned away from him, Dean barely heard what his brother said trough the guitar riff from AC/DC's 'Man in Black'. He turned down the volume again and drew a hand through his short hair with a frustrated gesture. "Well you gotta give me something, Sammy. I need to know what we're up against. How are we gonna find this girl if you cant tell me anything?"

That got Sam's attention, his head snapped up, and Dean could've bit his tongue off for being so insensitive. "Don't you think I know that, Dean? Don't you think I would've given everything to know all the details for every fucking death I have visions about so we could save them all in time?" A frustrated fist hit the passenger side window, and the button of Sam's jacket sleeve connecting with the glass, made an awful clanging sound.

"Easy there, tiger." Dean soothed. "Don't take it out on my baby." He casted a sideways glance at his brother. "I'm sorry, I know you..." He hesitated, then sighed and patted Sam on the shoulder, "Don't worry Sammy, we're gonna make it." They went back to driving in silence.

"It was light," Sam said after a while.

"What?!"

"My vision. It was light not dark outside, means it happened during daylight." Sam clarified.

"Okay. Okay, that's good, still a few hours till dawn." Still, Dean floored the gas.

sssNsNsss

"No!" She sat up in her bed, breathing hard. Looking around in the dark trough her still sleepy eyes, she couldn't remember where she was. The room was cold and a shiver went trough her body. Willing herself not to freak out, she eased herself back on the bed, let her head sink into the pillow. Lying there blinking, she tried to calm down. After a moment her eyes got used to the dark and they focused on the door, nothing there, they continued to the window, searching for something not right, but again, nothing. The search went on till the she knew every inch of the room was the way it was before she had fallen asleep. It all came back to her. The dream, she hadn't had that dream for...god how long?

Certain that the dream was the reason for her sudden awake and that the room that she now recognized as the one she had rented for the last two weeks now, held nothing more than the dust being whirled up by the cold night air, she tried to go back to sleep. The numbers on the clock on the bedside table told her that she needed the sleep, only two hours of sleep was not enough, not even for her.

The minutes ticked by, but the sweet darkness that her body longed for never came. Her mind couldn't seem to shake of the dream, every time her body relaxed and she could feel herself falling into darkness, her brain brought her back with a snap. It was as if her mind wouldn't allow her do drift of, probably in fear of having the same dream all over again.

Twenty minutes later, the red numbers of the digital clock showing 5:05 am, she gave up. If sleep wouldn't come for her, she could as well let the day begin. The floor, ice cold under her bare feet, told her mind a hot shower was a good idea.

Leaving the bathroom, her hair still damp from the shower, she felt a shill down her spine. She froze, something was not right, she could feel it. With trained eyes she searched the room again. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Angry at her self for letting the dream coming to her, she kicked the bathroom door closed, then gave it another kick just to make sure it got the point. She got dressed and left the room for breakfast.

sssNsNsss

It was almost six in the morning when she entered the diner, she had decided to walk, figured out she needed the fresh air. Saturday morning there wasn't many people up for breakfast this early, even in Denver.

"Good morning, Julia", Tim, the owner welcomed her. "You're up early for a Saturday". "Yeah, well somebody needs to keep you busy", she smiled back at him. She sat down at her usual table and Tim brought her a fresh cup of coffee. "Thanks", she said, feeling the warm liquid already do her good. "So", Tim looked at her with an expression on his face she couldn't recognize, "seriously, what brings you here this early?" Julia studied his face, trying to figure out his intentions. Was he actually worried about her, he hardly knew her, or was he only curious? Why would he care why she was here early, Saturday or not? She studied her coffee, as if that gave her the needed answer.

She must have used to long time before she answered, cause Tim made a weird noise, and decided to speak again. "Julia!" That snapped her out of it, she looked up at him, a little embarrassed of her fall out, and discovered that she had actually made the man worried.

"Sorry", she said with an apologetic smile, "it's to early for my brain to function properly". Tim raised his eyebrows in confusion, "Then why are you here?". "Oh, you know the saying; 'the early bird catches the worm'," she grinned. "Well, you look like you should catch some more sleep." "Hey", she feigned offended, "that's not a way to greet a woman. No wonder you are a single man". He let it pas, shook his head, took her orders and left her.

Julia mentally kicked herself as he left her alone. This always happened after nights like this, the dream continuing to haunt her the rest of the day.

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Dean parked the Impala right outside room number six, the room was at the end of the building, and it's window was not visible from the road or the office. "Well, here we are," Dean yawned. He went out and stretched his body. It was 7 am, and was a quiet Saturday morning. He eyed his brother as he wearily exited the car. Kid looked like hell, dark circles under his eyes, shoulders slumped told the world this man hadn't had a decent night's sleep in a while. Dean didn't feel so great either. After almost 14 hours in the driver's seat, there was nothing more he'd like to do, then catch some sleep, but he doubted that was happening. And right on cue, Sam closed the door to dreamland.

"We should get you some breakfast before research, library opens up at nine, but maybe we could ask around first." Sam rushed the words, like he didn't even have time for talking.

Dean sighed heavily as they entered their motel room. "Sam, you do realize it's Saturday morning? Not sure there will be an awful lot of people around to talk to."

Sam took a good look at his brother, "Yeah, you right. Hey how 'bout I go over to the library at 9, while you get some rest. You look beat, man."

_'Yeah, and let you out of my sight? No way, man.'_ "Nah, I'm good, just give me time for a shower and I'm ready for some serious eating." Dean waved his hand, "And what's that crap about getting me some food? You're eating too."

Sam only rolled his eyes. "I hear ya' big brother. Listen, you jump the shower and I go grab us some food." When Dean didn't answer, but eyed him with hard look, Sam sighed. "Look, man, it's only across the street, I'm not four, you don't have to hold my hand."

Dean looked away, "Yeah, okay. Oh and don't forget the coffee." But his little brother was already out the door. The oldest Winchester grabbed some cloths from his bag and dragged his tired body to the bathroom. He had a bad feeling about this. A really really bad feeling.

******Tbc**

******_A/N:_**_I apologize for the lack of action in this chapter, I just needed to get our boys to their destination, and I have a thing for car rides;) But I promise there will be more (much more) action later. Just hang on till next chapter. In the meantime, I'd loved to hear what you think. Remember your opinions motivates me to write more and update this thing faster;)_

**_Love, A-O-T__  
_**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **_I'm so so sorry for the late update, I really have no excuse, except for maybe real life, but who cares about RL, sigh. Hope you haven't lost interest in this story. I'll try to update at least once a week from now on. And yeah, there's probably some bad spelling and grammar in this chapter too, just close your eyes to that, okay? Thank you:)_

**Disclamer:** _Last time I checked I didn't own anything supernatural or the Winchesters, and I think I would have noticed if I suddenly had a Winchester in my care;) _

_Well on with the story, Enjoy!!_

**Chapter 3  
**

* * *

After a long and tiresome research, with no result in finding the girl in Sam's visions, both hunters were tired and frustrated. Sam's nerves had become more and more thin during the day, when nothing they did or found out, got them any closer to who she was. More than once, Dean had to convince his younger brother that they were doing everything they could possibly do, and tried in his best big brother style to reassure Sam that they would find her in time. Although he wasn't so sure really. With no more to go on than what Sam remembered from his visions, which was close to nothing, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. It didn't help that there was no resemblance between the previous attacks, it gave them nothing to go on. They did get to talk to some of the earlier victims' family though, but they couldn't give them more information than what they already knew. And with everyone blaming it on wild animal attacks, there was no other information of use to the hunters.

So at 7.30 pm that afternoon, they were no closer then they were 12 hours earlier. They were both in the car outside a little diner close to the home of the last victims husband, arguing like an old married couple. Exhaustion pulling at both of them, non of them were able to conceive their words.

"For the last time, Sam, I'm not suggesting that we give up." Dean killed the engine and looked over at his brother. "I'm only saying we should take a break. I'm starvin' man. Aren't you?"

From the look of Sam's face, food was the last thing on his mind. "How can you even think about eating? How can I eat when she might be out there dieing and I could have done something about it, hah?" It sounded like an accusation, but both hunters knew that's not what it were meant to be.

Rubbing a hand through his short spiky hair, Dean tried to calm down and speak reason with his brother. "Listen, from your vision it's gonna happen during daylight."

His words didn't seem to come through to the younger Winchester, though as Sam continued to nag on about how they were to late and how it was all his fault. Sam was already on a guilt trip.

"For fuck's sake, will you just listen to me Sam!" Sam flinched a little at the harsh words. His older brother's patients had finally snapped. "Look outside, it's almost dark. Let's get some food and some rest and we finish this to morrow, okay?"

Dean didn't wait for the answer, but left the car, on his way to the diner in front of them. Unwillingly Sam followed.

Even though the diner was small, it was quite busy and crowded. _'Wonder what the owner has done to get all this customers'_, Dean wondered as they entered through the small doors. The restaurant held nothing special, and wouldn't have been their first pick if they didn't have to bother about money and to hold a low profile.

They hadn't more than just sat down in the corner booth, when a young waitress came to take their orders. She looked no more than 17 years old, but that didn't stop Dean from try flirting with the girl. Sam felt almost sorry for the girl as she blushed shyly, didn't look like she was used to that kind of gazes and flirtation. Sam couldn't really figure out why, 'cause she was a good looking girl. _'Maybe it's her first day',_ Sam thought as he noticed she wasn't as routinized as the rest of the people working there seemed to be. _'Or maybe she's just a really shy and sweet girl'. _

"Dude, did you really have to droll all over that poor girl?" Sam asked and kicked his brother under the table, as the waitress left them. "She's a bit young don't you think." Dean just smirked at his little brother. "Loosen up a bit Sammy. Didn't you see how that cute girl blushed? I probably made her day."

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother's statement, when it came to women, Dean had an ego big enough for a whole town.

"Oh my god!" Sam who had only been picking on his food and had a faraway look out through the meal was now staring in shock at something behind Dean's back.

"What's wrong?" Dean looked worriedly around to try to pick up some danger that might have caused his brother's outburst. He couldn't find one, but he turned around to follow Sam's gaze. All he saw was a bunch of people eating.

Sam finally found his voice again, "That girl, she..." And then Dean saw her, a girl, sitting alone in a booth in the opposite corner of the diner.

"Yeah, not bad, little brother." Pointing at the girl he continued; "Can picture she would look hot in a mini skirt." Wiggling his eyebrows he turned back to an exasperated Sam.

"Will you focus, please? That's the girl in my vision." Dean's sarcastic smile fell when he saw the seriousness in Sam's face. Sam drummed his fingers nervously on the table, hesitating for a moment before he went up. A hand shot up and gripped him around the wrist, holding him back.

"Whoa there!" Dean looked up at Sam. "Where are you going? You're not gonna talk to her are you?"

Sam got a puzzled look, "What do you think? Of course I'm gonna talk to her." He tried to jerk his hand away, but Dean held back.

"Don't you think we better have a plan?" Dean tried to catch Sam's gaze and silently pleaded his brother to sit down again, before he had to make a scene. Sam though seemed determined to go through with his no-plan. "Dude. I'm only gonna talk to her. We have to tel her."

Dean gave Sam an incredulous look. "And tell her what exactly? The truth? That she is soon to be animal food, or demon food more like it. That we know because you saw it in a vision? That yes in fact everything she ever faired as a little kid do exist?" Dean whispered, tried to keep it low, but he had a hard time keeping his frustration out of his voice. When did Sam stop thinking things trough before he jumped in to action anyway? That was more like him.

A defeated Sam sat down again, exhaling heavily. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

Dean snorted, "You think? You would have scared the shit out of her, and we would probably be locked up in an insane asylum at the end of the day."

"So what do we do?" Sam asked as their waitress walked pass them. Dean asked her for the check, before he answered. "I don't know." Glancing up at Sam again, seeing the lost expression of his little brother, he rubbed a hand over the back of his head and continued; "Guess we just have to wait her out. Then we follow her out and talk to her outside."

Sam gave him a disbelieving look. _'That's his big plan? Hell what's the difference? She's gonna panic no matter where we tell her'. _ But before he got the chance to voice his doubtfulness, the waitress was back and Dean paid for their meal.

They didn't get the chance to talk about a more refined plan as the girl had raised from her booth and was on her way out. Sam gave a slight nod to Dean to signalize that they had to move. With simultaneous movements the brothers left their table.

Outside they spotted the girl on her way round the corner. Thinking sneaking up on her might not be the best approach Sam called out for her. They could see she tense and froze in her step as they made their way over. Slowly she turned around to face the strangers in front of her. She looked scared and ready to strike at once, but she spoke with a calmness that surprised both the brothers. "What can I help you gentlemen with?"

Reaching a hand inside his jacket showing her a police badge, Dean started to speak, but got immediately cut of by Sam. Dean could do nothing else than listen in shock as his brother blurted out with a little edited version of the truth, where all visions, demons and supernatural subjects were left out, he thought is was amazing how Sam made the story sound almost believable.

During Sam's little storytelling, Dean had a good opportunity to study the girl in front of them. She was a little older than Dean had imagined, from what Sam had said he would have thought she was a teenager -not that Sam had been very clear on that, Sam hadn't been very clear on anything according to this case -but the girl, or more like the woman, appeared to be more like Sam's age. The oldest Winchester watched in fascination as myriads of feelings spilled across her face, she went from scared to angry, from suspicious to what looked like curious, until her face went completely blank.

Pressed up against the wall she asked, again with a surprisingly calm voice. "So why do you think I'm the next victim?"

Watching Sam in the corner of his eyes, Dean saw Sam falter a little and he chose to speak up for the first time after being interrupted. "Age, gender, the fact that the killer seems to pick his victims from crowded places, like this," he gestured with his hand at the diner, "Eying them out, finding the ones who are alone, and then he follows them, watch them." Knowing their explanation had a lot of holes he continued. "But most important geographical reasons. The pattern says his next place to strike will be in this area."

She raised an eyebrow, "He? The killer? Thought police blamed in on animal attacks?"

Now Sam was back in the game again and was quick to fill in. "Well, that's what all the evidences said after the first attacks, but now it's more likely to be a serial killer, but releasing that information would only create panic, which we like to avoid before we can prove it."

Nodding approvingly, she seemed to accept their explanation to the surprise for the two hunters and they relaxed visibly. They were about to suggest she come with them, Sam gesturing towards the car, when she suddenly kicked out at Dean's left leg, at the same time dragging at his right shoulder, causing him to stumble, almost crashing in to the wall. Sam reacting out of instinct at any attack at his brother moved forward griping the girl in a lock pressing her shoulders against the wall. But again their opponent surprised him using his hight against him, ducking her head, throwing her hands up in the ear, releasing herself from Sam's grip. Taking advantage of the momentum from her flying arms, she did a 360, her foot connecting with his hip with a well placed back round kick. Sam, surprised by her strength and speed took a fall over a puzzled Dean on his way to help his little brother. Before they had time to react, she was on a run down the road, disappearing behind the corner of the gas station beside the diner.

Making no time to talk, the brothers silently agreed to split up. Sam running after the girl, Dean making his way back to the Impala, throwing himself in and driving down the same path.

Sam saw her further down the road running towards the row of houses down the end. Increasing his speed the running Winchester almost reached her, before she did a sharp turn and disappeared into one of the well-kept gardens. He thought he saw her running out trough the trimmed hedge in the other end of the garden, and down the other block, when he heard the familiar sound of his brother's car. Making a hand gesture, pointing at the garden and the other road, he saw the black car turning and driving in the direction of the girl, before he ran through the garden himself. But when he reach the other gate, she was already making her way towards the main street. Twisting and turning, constantly doing sharp turns she was in and out of Sam's vision and he had a hard time keeping up with her speed at the same time as he tried to figure out her next move. _'God the girl's fast'_ he thought as she suddenly was gone. Running a little further he realized he'd missed her and stopped up, breathing hard, trying to decide what to do next. He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the car pulling up behind him.

That's how Dean found him. He had tried to follow the girl, but when she had turned in on the main road she had a way of disappearing in on the smaller roads crossing only to reappear behind him or beside him, and there was no way he was able to follow that in his car, and soon she were no where to be seen. When he saw his little brother standing outside not even noticing him, his heart aced for the kid. He looked so young and panicked. And Dean could only imagine how Sam must be feeling, to find her only to loose her again._'Damn this hunt's gonna be long and hard'_ Dean rubbed a hand over his eyes. He was afraid this could break his brother if they didn't save her, they had been through so much shit lately, and if the demon was involved... He still had a vivid memory of his last meeting with one of that kind.

He was about to knock on the windshield to announce his presence when Sam turned around and saw him. When their eyes locked, desperation shone from the youngest. Those eyes said all that had to be said. The moment lasted only for a second and Sam was on his way in the passenger seat. "Dean, I lost her," he said panting. Settling in the seat, closing the door, Dean started up again. "We have to find her, Dean," his voice shaking. Dean glanced over at his brother, "We will Sam. We'll find her." Hoping he was right. And they drove in silence down the street.

sssNsNsss

Finally Julia saw the motel, and she increased her speed even further, pausing by the door only to unlock the door with shaking fingers. Well inside her own room she reassured the door was properly locked before she slide down the wall, leaning her head back, she tried to calm down. The room was quiet, only her own heavy breathing to be heard and she relented to the silence, the familiarity making her relax.

After a few moments, she felt calmer and could breath normal again. "God," she said to herself, feeling the need to express the frustration and panic that had sent her out on the run, even if no one was there to listen. "Ouch," she yelled when her head connected with the window frame on her way up from the floor. "Stupid fucking window!" The need to throw something overwhelmed her and fortunate for Julia, the only thing nearby was a shoe lying in the corner, the shoe hit the bathroom door in the other end of the room, landing with a thud in a ring of dirt. _'No harm done, only made the room keeper work for her money.'_ She hadn't more than finished her thought before the mirror hanging beside the door fell down, the glass shattering in a million pieces. With a hysterical laugh, which if heard by others would have made them think she was crazy, _ 'Well, not far from the truth,'_ she threw herself on the top of the bed.

Too exhausted from the run and her overactive brain, she couldn't do anything else than to lie there staring at the ceiling. She knew she should go shower or at least clean up the broken mirror, but she found herself unable to anything at all but think. Lying down, staring up at the not so white ceiling, her thoughts ran back to the encounter with the two men. There was no explanation for the way she had reacted, but there was something about them and the story that made her uneasy. She knew all about the killings, she also knew they were probably right about them not being animal attacks. But that's what worried her. She didn't really believe shit about that the police shared her opinion in that case, far as she knew there hadn't been a very thorough investigation. So who were they? _'Police, my ass. They did not look like police officers.'_ Fingering with one of her hair locks she tried to figure out what was wrong with the picture. Because it was so wrong, but she couldn't really put her finger on it. She had been here in two weeks now, and believed that if what ever was here, wanted her it would have come for her sooner. Swearing under her breath, she sat up. She knew she should have left days ago. The minute the killings started she should have left town, hell even staying in one place for two fucking weeks was a stupid thing to do, killings or no killings. Too tired to do anything else, she kicked of her shoes and threw the clothes in a heap on the floor and lied down under the covers. _'I'm leaving the first thing tomorrow,'_ was the last thing she thought before she fell asleep.

Four hours later she woke with a start. Sitting up in her bed, she felt the same uneasiness she had felt the night before. Only she hadn't had the dream this time. She was sure of that, she always remembered it when ever that dream came to her. _'So if it's not the dream...'_ With strained ears she listened for something, but there was nothing. Again she searched the room like she used to, and yet again she couldn't find anything.

_'Must have been those guys making me paranoid.'_ She lied down and pulled the covers a little closer. Almost falling back to sleep, the sweet darkness of sleep pulling at her, she suddenly remembered something. Pulling herself out of bed, she turned the lights on and opened her laptop. After only a minute she found what she looked for. Tapping her finger on the keyboard, she felt her heart beating rapidly as she read all the articles one more time. They said nothing about... _'Oh God!'_ She exclaimed. Within seconds she was fully dressed and on her way out the door again.

sssNsNsss

Sam sat at the little table in their motel room, the light from the laptop making his face glow. He rubbed a hand over his eyes, they felt dry from staring at the computer and lack of sleep. Since he had given up on sleeping one hour ago, he had been reading these articles over and over again, without really finding anything. The clock on the screen showed 1 am, and he knew he should sleep, he could feel his body longing for a night in a proper bed. With wary eyes he glanced over at his brother. Dean law sprawled out on the bed snorting softly. Sam envied his older brother's ability to sleep almost everywhere, wished he could be the same way. He knew Dean had to be exhausted though. His brother had been driving all night, then had a full day with research, with no result really, and on top of that they had been driving up and down the streets in the area of the diner, looking for the girl for hours. But the girl was no way to be found, and after searching the same roads over and over again, they had to give up in fear of drawing suspicion. Denver was a big city and she could be anywhere. He sighed heavily, he didn't even know here name. God how could he be so stupid to forget asking for her name first.

Defeated and with subbing feet he went over to his bed again and lied down, if he couldn't sleep he could at least let his body have the pleasure of stretching out on a bed. But after only minutes he was asleep.

At exactly 3 am Dean woke up, without moving and with eyes still closed he listened for anything that could give away that something was wrong. Subconsciously his hand was under the pillow gripping the knife a little harder. His well trained ears and hunter instincts was on full alert. Ready to attack any intruder or danger to the brothers that could have waken him up, Dean heard a sound he recognized. Releasing his breath, Dean turned around towards his brother, watching him sleeping, watching him having a nightmare, a too familiar sight lately. Sighing he sat up studying his little brother, he really wished his brother could have a full nights rest soon. He rested his head in his hands for a moment, before reaching out to wake up Sam.

sssNsNsss

"You sure about this, Sam?" Dean asked keeping his eyes on the empty road ahead. "I mean, it's the middle of the night. In your last vision it was gonna happen during daylight."

Sam sat in the passenger seat, looking out the window without really watching anything. "I'm sure Dean," his voice defeated. "It's gonna happen tonight, if we're not already to late. Just drive."

Dean spared a glance at his brother before concentrating on the road again, pushing the accelerator a little more. Biting his lip he spoke softly. "So why don't you go this through with me one more time, before we get there."

Sam sighed heavily, it was only 15 minutes since he'd been woken up from his nightmare, and already he had been through it more than twice. "I saw her burn, Dean. There was fire everywhere, and she just stood there in the middle of it." His voice cracked slightly, the nightmare too fresh in his mind.

"And it was the same girl, the one we talked to?" Dean turned towards his brother now, tried to catch his eyes, but Sam wouldn't meat him. Sam only nodded. "And there was no one else there? Only her?"

With a frustrated sigh, Sam turned from the passenger window. "I'm telling you, I only saw her burning, don't know why and there was no supernatural about it. But I'm sure it was her and it was in that office."

They had been at that office earlier that day. Sam had recognized it as the place where one of the first victims were killed. The man had been found in an old office in a closed off part of a downtown office building. No now knew what he had done there, the east wing had been closed off for years.

Ten minutes later Dean pulled the car to a stop in the empty parking lot. Sam was out of the car almost before it stopped. Releasing a heavy breath, Dean followed suit and found Sam already bent over the trunk.

"So what do we need?" Dean asked watching his brother thoroughly. The younger brother just shrugged and pulled out a shotgun and holy water. Dean already had a pocket flask with holy water on him and pulled out his .45, his hunting knife and secured two extra knives to his ankle and wrist. At the sight of the all the knives, Sam eyed him with suspicion. Dean only lifted a shoulder; "Hey, I'm not taking any chances with that girl again." He still had a too graphic image of their earlier humiliating run in with this woman. No way was he gonna be overpowered twice in a day. By a girl.

On their way to the back doors which led to the closed off part, they spotted another car. Dean glanced anxiously up at the dark building in front of him, trying to discover if there was anybody still inside, he saw non.

Even though the east wing was not in use anymore it was still well secured, but in only few minutes they had fixed the alarm system and was inside. They kept to the stairs, not wanting to use the elevators in fear of security guards. "You remembered dad's journal?" Sam whispered, Dean clapped his jacket pocket. "Yeah."

On the fourth floor they stopped and Dean peaked around the corner making sure there were no guards. Outside the right office they paused, listen for any noises from inside. When they didn't hear any, Dean glanced back at his little brother before quietly picking the lock and opened the door.

Two sets of flashlights swept the same room they had been in earlier. The old office was meagerly furnished, with and old desk and one wall covered with book shelfs, which for some reason was full of books. _'Who moves and close off a room and leave the books,'_ Sam studied the books more thoroughly this time around. There were nothing special about them, most of them seemed to be about economics and marketing, nothing indicating something weired going on.

"There's nothing but dust in here, Sam." Dean coughed while searching the old desk. "What's the point, we've already done this. I'll say we wait for our lady friend out..."

When Dean didn't continue, Sam turned around to look at his brother. Dean stood frozen in place, staring at an empty spot on the desk.

"Dean?" Sam went over to his brother.

"Remember this?" Dean asked in a hushed voice .

Following the ray from Dean's light, Sam found what Dean was looking at. His eyes grew wide as he saw the sign drawn in the dust. The Zoroastrian mark was easy recognizable. When Sam found his voice again he turned to Dean, "How could we overlook this earlier?"

Dean nodded towards the spot, "Because it wasn't there before."

Their gaze locked for a second. "You sure?" Dean nodded.

Both hunters alert now, they glanced around, ears picking up every sound. Something had been here after they left earlier and that something could still be here. The brothers feared the same thing, that this was a trap and they had been walking right in to it. Dean cursed under his breath while he preprepared to protect his brother from any sudden appearance of shadows or demons. He could mentally kick himself for walking in to almost the same trap they had survived in Chicago.

"Shh," Sam whispered, gazing out in the dark in front of him. "You hear that?" Dean listened intently, someone was in the hall, coming their way.

Both men were against the wall, waiting for whatever coming towards them. Sam readied himself with holy water, Dean clutched his hunting knife. A few intense seconds later the door opened quietly and Dean jumped the human form coming in, with smooth movements Dean had the person pinned to the floor, knife at the form's throat. Sam's flashlight sought out the newcomer's face when he heard a small yelp.

"Dean, let her go. That's her." Sam winked at the intruder.

Dean found himself face to face with the woman from the diner. "Get of me!" She yelled and tried to punch Dean, but he was better prepared now and held her down. To Sam's relief his brother let go of the knife and helped her standing. For a moment all three of them just watched each other, before Sam broke the silence.

"I think we should leave." His brother nodded in agreement, but Julia refused to move.

"Who are you?" Her voice was low and calm, but Sam could hear it shake ever so slightly. Whatever this trap was, if that's what it was, he didn't believe her to be a part of it.

"We already told you." Dean answered.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right you're cops. That's why you are sneaking around in the dark. And," she gestured towards the sensor in the corner of the room, "fixed the alarm."

The brothers sheared a glance. Sam cleared his throat. "Okay. Why don't you tell us who you are and what you're doing here, and we will tell you who we are." Sam said with his sympathetic you-can-tell-me-anything look.

She didn't seem to take the bait though, and stared back with a who-do-you-think-you-are face. _'Smart girl,'_ Dean thought to himself. "Oh, no. I don't have to tell you anything. I'm not the one who lied." She was a bit more loud now, and Dean felt it was about time for them to move.

"Why don't we talk about this outside, we need to get the hell out of here." He started towards the door. "And keep it down," he said through clenched teeth.

Sam nodded and went to take Julia's arm and steer her out, but as he reached out to her, she screamed as she was suddenly airborne an flew through the room, her head crashing with the wooden desk. Sam felt something dig in to his shoulder and drag him down. He tried to fight it only to have the pain in his shoulder intensified, feeling the claws of whatever this thing was, digging deeper. He screamed in pain as he felt the thing slash out at his face and pulling him along the floor.

Dean felt more than saw something in the room and he turned around in time to see the flying girl and his brother going down. In horror he witnessed his brother being dragged along the floor while deep claw marks appeared on his cheek. He leaped in to action throwing himself at the shadows attacking Sam. As he landed on the floor trying to pry his little brother away from the attacker he found himself face to face with nothing. To his relief though, whatever had his brother had released him and Sam was no longer being dragged along the ground.

Dean heard the girl struggled to her feet as he felt the attack again. Suddenly he was thrown in the air, all of a sudden finding himself in the ceiling, having a full view at the second attack on his brother. It was like he saw everything in slow motion and he could only watch helplessly as his little brother writhed in agony from the claws tearing at him. The girl throw something at the shadows but he couldn't registrar what it was. Then the force holding him up released him, but before he hit the ground he was thrown in the book selfs causing the books to fly around, before he landed with a thud and it all went black.

The first thing Dean felt when he come to it, was the intense pain in his back, then there was the ringing in his ears. He shook his head, but found out that was a bad idea as that only caused headache. For a moment he couldn't remember where he was and he tried to look around through a bleary vision. Someone coughed beneath him and he looked down to find himself on the top of a woman. _'Okay,'_ he thought to himself, _'I'm been in this position before, nothing I can't handle.'_ He chuckled a little while he studied the woman with blurry eyes, she seemed pale and her breathing came out a little strained.

"You okay?" he asked a little more worried.

She only nodded, focused on getting enough oxygen to her lunges. Come to think of it, Dean had a hard time breathing himself. _'Must be all the smoke.'_ He tried to take a deep breath, which only ended in a huge coughing. _'Wait a minute. Smoke? Why would there be smoke?'_ That's when it hit him, the intense heat surrounding them, unfortunately he was familiar with this feeling. The body beneath him moved and once more he focused on her.

"Ah, I think there's a fire here," he managed.

"You think?" she stated sarcastically, her voice raspy. "We should get out of here."

Dean couldn't have agreed more, but when he tried to move he found his legs was stuck, like they were buried under something heavy. _'Swell,' _ he thought, _'I'm gonna die in a fire, how ironic is that. Well at least I'm in my favorite position, on top of it.'_ He eyed the woman in speak, she didn't look so good. Damn, he had to get here out of here. Now!

He felt his heart beat faster as something penetrated his thoughts, something he would recognize where ever he was. No matter situation, he would always respond to that call.

"DEEAAN!!!"

* * *

**tbc**

_I got a little carried away in the end there, but found that was a good place to end it. I'd really appreciate to hear what you think of this, even the bad news. And don't worry, I don't bite. _

_Thank you for reading, and have a great weekend:)_


	4. Chapter 4

**Closing in**

_**A/N: ** Okay, that's it. No more promises regarding updates from me. No point in promising something I know I can't keep. So from now on they'll come when they'll come;) Sorry for the long wait with this one. Not sure if any of you still bother to read this story, but hopefully some of you are still there with me. _

_**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything supernatural, I still live in ignorance to all the things that go bump in the dark. And haven't seen any Winchesters lurking around either (but well they are hunters, guess I'm not supposed to find them lurking, if they're even half as good as they say they are), so no, don't own them. _

_...end of chapter three:_

"_You think?" she stated sarcastically, her voice raspy. "We should get out of here."_

_Dean couldn't have agreed more, but when he tried to move he found his legs were stuck, like they were buried under something heavy. 'Swell,' he thought, 'I'm gonna die in a fire, how ironic is that. Well at least I'm in my favorite position, on top of it.' He eyed the woman in speak, she didn't look so good. Damn, he had to get her out of here. Now!_

_He felt his heart beat faster as something penetrated his thoughts, something he would recognize where ever he was. No matter situation, he would always respond to that call._

"_DEEAAN!!!"_

**Chapter four**

Dean's heart froze when he heard Sam screaming his name. The scream was lazed with fear and pain. Dean needed to get to his brother, the pain in his back and smoke stinging his lungs forgotten at the moment.

"Dean!" Sam screamed again.

"Sam!" Dean tried, but it came out hoarse and too week for Sam to hear.

In the haze of the young man's need to respond to his younger brother he had forgotten about the position he found himself in. He tried to move his legs once more, but found them unable to follow his command. The heat was closer now, it was like hot tongs licked his back and face, leaving traces of burning skin. If he could just lift himself up enough to see what was holding back his unmoving limbs, then maybe he could get an idea on how to get out of it an get to Sam. Taking a deep a breath as possible with the stinging in his lungs he placed hands on both sides of his body and managed to lift his upper body and inch, but when he tried to turn his mid section to take a look over at his back and shoulder, pain shot up his ribs and he had to stop before he even got a look at his legs.

_'Damn,'_ he slammed a fist in the floor in frustration. This sucked big time. His baby brother needed him and he couldn't even turn to see his fucking legs. In the back of his fuzzy, panicking mind he could hear his dad's well known words: _"Calm down, Son. You're no good to anyone panicking."_ He steadied his breathing in an attempt to calm himself down.

"Your legs' stuck under the bookshelf."

The weak, strained voice made him focus at the woman lying close to him. Her face was flushed from the heat, her dark brown eyes blinked rapidly, caused by the stinging smoke he assumed. She looked calmer than she should be she should be in a situation like the one they found themselves in.

"Look, can you move?" he asked her.

Dean felt his heart fell as he saw her shook her head.

"Maybe if you..." She was interrupted by coughing and when she spoke again, he could barely hear her voice over the crackling from the fire, indicating that she wouldn't last much longer unless they got the hell out of there.

"if you could lift up a bit," taking shallow breaths, "I could wiggle myself from under you."

"Right."

Ignoring the pain that shot through his body by only the slightest movement, Dean lifted his upper body a little. He hoped to God that the woman would be able to pull herself out and help him loose. He couldn't loose his baby brother, he'd sworn that nothing bad was ever gonna happen to Sam while he was around. Yet he failed time after time. A dark part of his mind told him he wasn't gonna save Sam. He had let down everyone else he ever loved, why did he believe this would be different.

Telling himself he couldn't afford to break down now, he focused back on the task at holding up part of his body. The muscles in his arms shook from the strain at holding his weight and he felt his eyes sting with both smoke and sweat. Watching the young woman struggling her way out inch by inch causing fresh stings of pain in his rib cage, he remembered his brother had stopped calling for him. _'Why?'_

"Do you know where my brother, Sam is?" he asked her.

Julia stopped in her movement for a second, confusion in her eyes, _'brother?' _Before realization settled in. _'Yeah, they aren't cops they are brothers.'_ It all made much more sense. Continuing the painful task at pulling herself out she tried to remember what had happened earlier.

"Las thing, I saw him get dragged out in the hall," she said breathlessly. "But I," her voice was nearly a whisper now, "couldn't see anything with him."

Dean studied the girl as she was almost out from underneath him. "No, they are shadow demons." When Julia sent him a weird face, he added; "Their shadows is the only visible part of them."

She released a humorless laughter. "Yeah, well don't think the shadow part of 'shadow demons' was what's bothered me."

Dean smiled weakly, "Sorry." And he meant it, this was a part of the job he wasn't particularly fond of, he hated to have to steal people's innocents by revealing the supernatural. He usually hid it under jokes about the naivety of others, but he wished they didn't have to know. Most of all he wished his brother could have kept his innocents.

Her victorious yelp put a stop to his running mind, letting him know she had finally wiggled herself free from their awkward position and he collapsed back to his stomach with a painful grunt. The relief of knowing there now was hope for his freedom of the bookshelf was short lived as he saw her struggle to her feet and backed off from him getting closer to the door. She didn't leave though, just stood there watching him. As Dean saw the wary glances she sent his way, he immediately guessed what she was thinking. Shit, he hadn't time to deal with this now, he had to find his brother, needed to save Sammy. One more tug at his limbs tolled him he still was depended on help to get anywhere. "Ah, a little help here?"

Julia stood close to the door watching the man she had been trapped under, studied him, making up a decision. The only thing she knew about this man was that he and his _brother_ had lied to her. The independent, distrustful part of her, the part of her that had saved her in more than one occasion wanted to run. But her gut feeling told her he was not a bad person, he hadn't really hurt her, not his fault he had landed on top of her, and she _knew _that _he _was not the one who had started the fire. With a sigh and shaky breath she felt the heat from the flames and knew she couldn't really leave him here to die. In the end, it was quite an easy decision to make.

Duking her head, she slid her aching body to the floor where the smoke was thiner and crawled back to him. "Sorry," she whispered, ashamed that she had considered leaving him.

Dean, who had not taken his eyes off of her released the breath he had been holding. "Thank you."

On her knees, in position by his head she could see the relief wash over his face. "What do you want me to do?" She asked him.

"Get that damn thing off my feet would be a good start." And he sent a week smile her way, but she could see the desperation in those green eyes.

She cast a glance in the direction of his legs, and for a split second she felt the knot in her stomach growing, making it's way up her throat at the sight of the huge bookshelf covering his feet. How the hell was she gonna get that off of him, and she didn't dear think of what shape his limbs might be in. Despite her sudden flash of hopelessness, she sent at least what she hoped was a reassuring smile back at him.

"I'll see what I can do about that."

The only response she got was a slight nod as he seemed to be concentrating on something else.

Without more hesitation she crawled over to his feet. She had to shuffle away some random books floating around after their meeting with Dean's back earlier. When she arrive the position of his feet she tried to determined how to do this. The offending furniture seemed to be of massive oak, and she knew from experience that they were heavy. That brought her back to thinking how his feet most feel. _'If he can even feel them.'_ She pushed the dreaded thought back, rubbed her itching eyes and went to action.

As she started pulling she could feel the ache in her chest increasing. The heat in the room was almost unbearable and her eyes went nervously around the room. Flames licked the surrounding walls reminding her that the time limit was little. A loud crack nearby made her jump and when she turned around she watched in horror as the shelf started burning. The sight made her shrug back with a sob she wasn't able to stifle.

Dean's mind was raising. Laying there unable to do anything was unbearable to say the least. His ears picked up the crackle of the fire together with the shuffling he could hear from the girl at his side. His way out. God he hated to be dependent of others. With exception of Sam, maybe. Speaking of Sam. Where was he? Why hadn't he heard form him in awhile. How long was it anyway? It felt like eternity, but he guessed it to be no more than minutes. Seven minutes maybe? Even that was too long. Seven minutes his brother was alone with that thing. A lot of things could happened in seven minutes. In face with a demon, seven minutes could mean the difference between life and death. His brother's life. He could feel bile rise up his throat of his baby brother alone with the demon. _'Please, let it not be the demon,'_ he thought. That yellow eyed son of a bitch was not gonna get his hands on his brother, not if he had anything to say about it. He sighed, this was taking way to long. He could feel someone touching his legs, something tugging at his legs. At least he could still feel his legs even though he was unable to move them. His ears picked up her sob immediately. He turned to look before he remembered why he hadn't done that before.

"What happened?" He asked her hesitantly, almost certain he wasn't gonna like the answer.

"The f..fire...," she stammered. "Oh God," she continued sobbing.

Dean pulled in a shaky breath, it was unnerving not to know what had happened. The woman had been so calm and strong so long, but now he could hear the beginning of her break down. He wouldn't blame her, and he knew she was free to run, leave him anytime she wanted to.

"Listen," he started, realizing he didn't know her name. "What's your name?" He asked softly.

Silence, then some shuffling. "Julia," came the weak answer.

"Listen Julia," he started over again. "I'm Dean. Could you tell me what's happening? Maybe we can solve this together."

He heard her moving and taking some deep shaky breaths before she answered.

"The fire, it...it spread." Her voice came out in small puffs. "The bookshelf is burning."

At those words Dean felt his throat tighten. God he hated fires, why kept fires ruining their lives. After a few heavy gulps of air in an attempt to calm his own panicked mind, he ignored the pain in his ribs and turned ever so slightly to get a look at her. The smoke was thicker now and it was getting harder to breath by every breath they took, but he could still see her sitting at his feet.

"Okay, Julia. It's gonna be okay." He talked in a soothing voice. "Can't feel my legs burnin' yet." he tried to lighten the moment.

Julia didn't answer, but he could see the change in her demeanor and finally their eyes met.

"Why don't you try building it up with some of these books floating around, then you don't have to lift it that much?" He suggested. "Probably don't need to lift it much anyway," he wheezed out. "I can already feel it's a little easier to move 'em." The last was a lie, but as long as it made Julia able to help him he didn't care.

Julia had been struggling with her thoughts, her eyes wander over the room in somehow terrified fascination at the fire consuming the walls, the flickering of flames making shadows in constantly movements, almost like they were dancing. To her surprise she could feel her chest ease up at his soothing words. The way he spoke with a soft and, even though she could hear the pain in his voice, strong voice, he reminded her of Claudia. That made her relax and she met his gaze for a second. She knew he lied when he said it was easier to move, because she hadn't really been able to lift the heavy thing an inch. But she was thankful of his attempt to make it easier.

With renewed determination, she turned back to the important task at hand. And, if it was the adrenalin of watching the fire coming closer or Dean's _"That's good," "You're doing fine," "A little bit more," _that made her focus all her strength at the right place she didn't know. But inch by inch, book by book she was able to lift the shelf.

Dean could feel the heavy weight on his limbs getting lighter, and when he tried to move, his breath hold in anticipation, he could finally move both his legs. He told Julia to stop for a moment, making sure the shelf not to fall back down again ruining her hard work. With as much strength as he could muster her tried to pull himself out, crawling away from the bookshelf. To his relief he felt his feet coming free, and ignoring the pricking in his right ankle he continued. Finally with a pained grunt he pulled his legs all the way out.

After a few seconds of calming his heavy breathing he turned around to his back, painfully aware of his bruised ribs.

"Thank you," he said studying the woman, he could for the first time see the gash in her forehead, funny he hadn't seen it before. I was still bleeding, but it had probably slowed down a little he assumed as it didn't seem to bother her.

"You okay?" he asked her.

She only nodded, but he could see a faint smile tugging at her lips.

"Okay good. Think you could help me up? I need to get to Sam."

She only nodded again, but made her way over to him. Taking hold under his armpits they slowly made their way up. In upright position for the first time since his encounter with most of the room, Dean suddenly felt nauseas and a little dizzy, luckily Julia didn't let go of him momentarily and gave him time to pull it together. He tried a few steps forward, knowing he had hurt his ankle, probably sprained it. The ankle almost gave out when he put weight on it. _'Damn that hurt.'_ But he'd had worse. He turned around to Julia.

"I need to get to Sam."

She watched him straight in the eyes. "I know."

Dean gave her a slight nod, pushed past his own pain and walked out in the corridor as fast as his bad leg let him, barely registering that the woman was following close behind. Only one thing on his mind. Sam.

sssNsNsss

Sam squeezed his eyes shut. His head was throbbing after the rough travel down the corridor. This room was darker, but it still hurt to keep his eyes open, but he forced them open again. He had to see what was going on, what was happening around him. He could feel someone with him, something evil. When eyes were finally open, Sam couldn't really see anything, first he thought they were still closed until he realized that there was nothing there with him. How could that bee?

Then it all crashed in on him. The shadow demons. Must have been that. The Zoroastrian sigil, the formless creature with claws digging in on him. He remembered vaguely seeing shadows in the other room.

_'Dean!'_ Dean had been there. He had called for Dean as he was dragged away from him, but his brother hadn't answered him. He could feel his heart raising. His protective big brother always responded to his call. Unless something was wrong, something keeping him away. _'Oh my god.'_ Dean had been thrown around and last time he'd seen him, he had been on the ceiling. _The ceiling_. Sam had to close his eyes for a moment, and took some deep breaths, willing the memories to go away, he had too many vivid memories of people dying that way, too many people ripped away from him by the hands of that yellow eyed son of a bitch, who seemed to have a thing for setting people on fire. _'Please God. Let Dean be okay. Don't let him die.'_ He was desperate, he couldn't loose Dean. Without his brother he wouldn't be able to face what to come and still keep his sanity. The fear of becoming evil, becoming what they had hunted their whole life was constantly hover over him.

Sam's mind was raising, unable to slow down, unable to thinking any rational thoughts that would help him out of this mess But somehow he knew that, his hunter instincts setting in maybe, telling him to slow down, clear his mind. Focus. His life was not the only one at stake here. He had to get to Dean. If Dean couldn't come to him, he was gonna go to him.

Sam tried to move, he realized it was his first attempt on moving since he got here. Sam shuddered, hadn't understood up till now how numbed his mind really had been. His brain so numbed that it took him 15 seconds to come to the realization that no matter how much he wanted to move, he couldn't. In his slumped position against the wall his limbs was like glued to the floor, the only part of his body willing to follow his command was his head, an it hang heavy to his chest.

The sudden laugh ringing in the room brought a chill down his spine and he forced his eyes open again, staring out in the darkness surrounding him. There was nothing there. Taking some heavy gulps of air he tried to convince himself that he must have imagined the laughter, when he heard it again. The voice was cold nothing human about it. Frustrated Sam opened his mouth to ask who or what it was, but no sound came out. As the laugher increased in volume, Sam's urge for yelling, screaming, doing something, to move his damn body -it all resulted in a major explosion in his head, at least that's what it felt like.

As abruptly as it had started the laughter died out, replaced by a deep voice. "You shouldn't have interfered, Winchester." Sam shook his head, still unsure if all of this was going on in his own mind. "But it was to be expected." That evil laughter again. Blinking rapidly, Sam scanned the room once again, still nothing. What ever summoning this daeva thing was playing with him. Taunting him. "This is the last time you or your brother comes between my plan. Last warning Sammy."

_'It's Sam,'_ Sam screamed inside, bile rise in his throat hearing his nickname spoken in that voice. Then it was gone, the only sound in the room was his own wheezing breath and rapidly beating heart. Tears threatened to fall when he heard the most beautiful sound.

"Sammy?"

But this time he felt no urge to scream out at the use of his nickname. It was spoken in the voice of his brother, the only one who he allowed to call him that.

"Sam are you okay?"

The simple words were lazed with worry, but Sam didn't dear open his eyes to look, the fear of this being another way to tease him, play with him, mad him staying perfectly still. Then he felt the rush of air as someone sat beside him. Fingers brushing over his chest, his shoulders. Fingers tapping his face lightly.

"Sam? Open your eyes. Please."

The gentle pleading sound in the voice, more than the actual words, made him finally open his eyes and staring in the worried green eyes of his brother's.

A relieved smile tugged at Dean's lips as he saw his brother's eyes flickered open. He had already checked him for injuries and was relieved that beside from several claw marks, which were deep, there didn't seem to bee anything life threatening.

"What happened here?" Dean asked as his younger brother seemed to finally be able to focus.

"I.. I don't know." Sam stuttered. He looked wearily around, longing for a deep dreamless sleep. "But what ever it was, I think it's gone now."

Dean studied his brother, trying to read if Sam was hiding something, or if he really didn't know. The sound of sirens made him spiraling in to action. Talk could wait. They had to move out of here. Now.

"Think you can stand?"

Sam seemed to think really hard on that matter, but this time, with the help of Dean he was able to move and raise up. Dean steadied him as he was hit by dizziness, and he felt someone gently steady him on the opposite side. Looking to the right he saw the woman, he had forgot about her, holding his shoulder.

The sirens were louder, and as Sam nodded they made their way out of there. It was a slow going, two of them had inhaled enough smoke to make them a little dizzy and Sam had lost some blood from the variation of claw marks on him. Dean limped his way down the hall, Sam's arm over his shoulder, while he tried to ignore the shooting pain each step caused his ankle. Luckily Sam was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he failed to notice his brother inability to walk without a limp.

Miraculously they made it out of the building and to the Impala, all three hoping in, Julia in the back seat no questions asked. Dean floored the accelerator and they made their way out of the parking lot as three fire trucks turned to a stop in front of the office building.

_**tbc**_

_Thank you for reading so far. I'm not gonna beg, but I think I need some feedback on this one. As a matter of fact lives depends on it;) No seriously, like some feedback.. Like what you think of Julia? It's always a risk bringing in OC's, (but she is kind of necessary) don't wanna write a Mary Sue, hopefully she wont turn out that way, but hey... bring it on, it's the only way I'll be able to improve. _


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